Miniature Pinscher

The miniature pinscher is not a miniature version of the Doberman pinscher. In fact, it is the older of the two breeds. Clues about the min pin's origin are scarce, but it is noteworthy that a cat-sized red dog resembling a min pin is depicted in a 17th-century painting. By the 19th century, several paintings include dogs of distinct the min pin type. These dogs probably resulted from crossing a small shorthaired terrier (German pinscher) with the dachshund and Italian greyhound. Many of the traits from these breeds can be seen in today's min pins: the strong body structure, feistiness and black and tan coloration of the German pinscher; the fearlessness and red coloration of the dachshund; and the elegance, playfulness and lithe movement of the Italian greyhound. Yet the miniature pinscher is more than the sum of its parts; it is perhaps the world's most energetic breed! These little German spitfires were developed into a distinct breed, the reh pinscher in the early 1800s, so named because of their resemblance to the small red German roe (reh) deer. Pinscher simply means terrier. The emphasis in the late 1800s was on breeding the tiniest specimens, resulting in crippled ugly dogs. Fortunately, the trend was reversed, and by 1900, the emphasis had returned to elegance and soundness. The min pin quickly became one of the most competitive and popular show dogs in pre-World War I Germany, but after the war, the breed experienced a plunge in numbers. Its future was left to those dogs that had been exported before the war. Its popularity continued to grow in America, and it received AKC recognition in 1929. Dubbed the king of toys, the min pin slowly accumulated admirers and is presently one of the more popular toy breeds in the United States.